Biblical Scholar vs. Theologian

Greetings dear friends! It's great to see that you have taken a minute out of your busy life to check up on my life... or at least my blog! Today I will be writing about a phenomena that I have observed over the past school year here in Princeton--classifying! Now, I'm not talking about judging or labeling or anything with a bad connotation--just classifying classmates.

Classifying. Since we have a pretty diverse population here at PTS, we have this tendency to classify ourselves according to several criteria. I will do it to myself here:

Ashley. From Pennsylvania. Went to West Chester U. Majored in Psychology and Philosophy. Presbyterian. Ordination track. MDiv 2014. Unmarried (i.e. does not live in CRW). A tad liberal. Loves sports. Huge hockey fan (Go Pens!). Plays guitar. Can't sing. 

The more I think about it, the more it sounds like an "About Me" profile description. Not that this is an all inclusive list (and I'll be waiting for the sassy comments some of my friends will have to add), but I want to suggest that we make just one more distinction here at the seminary...

Biblical Scholar vs. Theologian. I can already hear the squeaky voices of people protesting, "They're not mutually exclusive!" And I totally agree, they're not. You can probably consider yourself in both categories. But in my experience with humans at seminary, you tend to have a burning passion for one or the other--a preference, if you will. Since most of us are only here for three years, you kind of need to pick which of the two you enjoy more (although I would argue it is less of a choice and more about just who you are)--Biblical studies or theology--and fill up your electives with those kinds of classes. I suppose, if you really want to be argumentative, you can propose the addition of Patristics, but I have yet to meet anyone who would fall into that category here at a Presbyterian school.

As for me, I definitely fall into the category of Biblical Scholar. I would choose reading the Bible or Hebrew over the Institutes, Dogmatics, or Confessions any day! And I very well may quote the Bible more than any other human I have ever met, which I guess can be kind of annoying at times.

The best part of all of this classifying is that I get to be friends with people who differ in every single category from me! No kidding, I am convinced that my best friend here differs in all of the categories (except the unmarried thing)! Anyway, it's a great community of Biblical scholars and Theologians, and I find myself in the midst of Theologians more often than not. Horray for diversity within unity!

Anyway friends, take care of yourselves and each other (especially those very much unlike you)! =)

Final(s)ly Finished!

HOOOORAY! Hooray for finished finals! Boo yah, finals! So, I finished my finals about... oh, 9 minutes ago! And first thing on my agenda--tell all of you! Well that, and I have time to kill before dinner, so what the heck?!

Old Testament. The test and studying for it were like reading from Genesis through Malachi--just a matter of endurance. It was a lot of information--39 books worth! I'm feeling pretty good about it though, and I am very satisfied with the amount of knowledge I learned from this class! Wow!

Hebrew. This was largely reproduction of verbs, different forms, and translation. I already got my grade back because my preceptor is awesome, and I did really well! Man, I love Hebrew.

Theology. Oh Calvin, why do your Institutes need to be so lengthy and theological? I'm convinced that Calvin was trying to be the death of me... but oh no, not this day, no sir! Also, I wrote about Enlightenment theology for my other essay. Systematic (really, Liberation) theology--done!

Speech. Easy peasy--finished last week.

...so now that I am done with finals, I have two weeks off! Sounds great, right? Well, HECK YES, but I have been a tad overwhelmed with studying that I have not yet:
done my laundry
cleaned my car
cleaned my room
went Christmas shopping
deposited three checks
stocked up on food for next week
answered several emails
 Plus, I have intensive Hebrew II in the J-term, beginning January 2, which will make me a busy bee over break!

BUT, I am super looking forward to Christmas Eve and a chance to see all of my wonderful friends and family! And I'm still wearing my advent colors! Yippee! Now, I'm off to dinner and celebratory games and fun with  friends! What a great day! =)

Finals Preview & Sunday Review

Greetings dear friends! So guess what I just realized? I am done with classes for this semester! Oh yeah! Go me! Trouble is, I still have these 'finals' to get through before I can say that I successfully completed my first semester of seminary! I am feeling rather confident. But I don't know how I feel about my feelings of confidence. I hope I haven't fell into a a unsafe sense of control and preparedness. I guess we'll see! =)

Hebrew.  or "the Hebs" as I have come to call it. I have been intentional about keeping up with my vocabulary and grammar, so I am feeling pretty good about this test. Plus, I also enjoy studying it in a really geeky way because now I can read my favorite OT passages in their original language and actually understand what it means (for the most part). It is quite incredible how much progress we as a class have made this semester. I am especially grateful for my preceptor--he is truly amazing.

Old Testament. So I don't know if you are aware how long the Hebrew Bible is, but it's pretty long. 39 books as a matter of fact! This means that there is a lot of material to cover. Besides the essay prompts, I am required to know outlines of many of the books, summaries of Ruth, Esther, and Jonah, significance of many OT characters, prophets & their associated kings, significant years, ten commandments, order of the OT, and several other facts.

Theology. This is the final that I am least looking forward to for several reasons. After today, however, I am feeling pretty confident that I am good with more than half of the final--Calvin and theological terms. I still have some reading up to do on the topics of Barth, the Enlightenment, and evangelical theology.

Well, I am feeling good about these finals, but I am still planning on studying my brains out the first half of this week! The second half is devoted to the finals themselves. On another note, I had quite a wonderful Sunday! I went to church with a very good friend of mine, and I really like this church I have been attending while out here in Princeton. Allentown Presbyterian Church (NJ).

Allentown Pres. This church has some similarities with my own church, but also a number of differences. Considering it as a whole, I really like it. They sing a wide variety of songs, both contemporary and traditional. They use a keyboard, guitars, and drums as well as the organ. It's all very well balanced out. The service also has a very nice flow to it, and this is something I can appreciate. The pastor is also a really cool guy and a great preacher. He's a walker and really doesn't use the pulpit. His messages are very good, thought provoking, and they have a academia component to them.

Handel's Messiah. What a wonderful advent Sunday school taught by the pastor. We talked a lot about the history of this genius piece of music and the compiling of scripture. It was pretty awesome. We listened to clips of the performance, soloists, and talked about the structure of the piece itself. I always appreciate going into more detail about the music behind advent (Messiah was originally intended for lent).


How Great is Our God. If you like Chris Tomlin. advent-themed songs, or guitar/piano (or all three like me), you should check out this alternative Verse 1 for Tomlin's song How Great is Our God:

The splendor of the babe

In the manger hay

A new way has begun, a new way has begun

Through darkness comes our light

Messiah born this night

O listen to his voice, his tender gentle voice

Wish me luck during my last week of my first semester at seminary! It has been a great beginning to what is going to be a long week. I hope to see you, whoever you are, very soon! Happy Advent and God bless! 

God is Holding onto Me

I just wanted to share a few "pastoral points" from none other than John Calvin. We had a great guest lecturer this morning in theology, and it was one of the most interesting classes of the year. I have this tendency to write down quotations that I find clever, insightful, and/or inspiring. This morning's lecture was full of them. I pray that they have a similar affect on you.

Prayer. As John Calvin prayed before teaching, "May the Lord grant, that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of his heavenly wisdom with really incredible devotion, to his glory and our edification. Amen."

Very clear/concise. I am currently reading Calvin's most famous work: Institutes of the Christian Religion. It is a very clear and concise writing. He is addressing lay, "churched" people in France & Geneva. I am grateful that it is relatively easy to follow and understand. Thank you Calvin for not being pretentious in this respect and especially for not adding 'fluff' to your writings!

Heart is more difficult to convince than the mind. Calvin thought so.

We are accepted by God as if we had the righteousness of Christ. Now, THAT'S Grace. This is very comforting to hear! And it is also a nice, memorable statement that explains the basic idea of grace in a single breath (go ahead and try it).

Holy Spirit as center of one's faith. Like gravity. I love how the professor explained this! Scripture is authoritative, but we wouldn't be able to understand that without the Holy Spirit.

"He doesn't take all Scripture literally, but he does take it all seriously." I love this about Calvin. He addresses many issues that challenge his own theology instead of simply sidestepping them like many theologians have done. You many not agree with his arguments, but he would not have been scared to address your protests.
  
"If God has done it, I cannot undo it. I am not holding onto God; God is holding onto Me." This was the main point of the lecture. It definitely re-emphasized that we are not in control. God is. Grace through faith. This statement was also the cherry-on-top of the talk about predestination (not double predestination... that was actually not discussed).

"What happened to the body of Christ when he was around? Yeah, it's not going to be easy." I think it wouldn't hurt to be reminded of this every so often, especially in times of trial and hardship. Christianity is not necessarily easy. Trust me, Calvin knew this from experience (being an exile in France).

What affects us as evil is not necessarily 'bad.' What is truly evil is that which separates us from God... sin. I like this implied definition of evil, so I thought I'd throw this in here. Also, it emphasizes the seriousness of sin.

I continue to keep you all in my prayers. Have a wonderful day/night! Blessings.